Friday, July 15, 2016

NICE GUYS FINISH LAST. AND IN HELL.

Posted by Glaucon Jr

                                      (St John Paul the Great. Awesomely holy agitator)

There’s a lot of yelling out there that the Junglewatch Nation is populated by awful, terrible sinful people. Why all this angst and hysteria?   Because we commit the worst possible sin we can commit: like Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict, we are offensive.

Of all the mischief out there in this great cage-match for the soul of the Church we are fighting, this dirty trick equating offense with a lack of charity is really disturbing. Like Linda Blair in "The Exorcist" disturbing. We hear it all the time: "you aren't Christ-like, you're offensive!" But when Catholic Christians decide that the goodness of a thing is really determined by whether or not it is offensive, then we’ve already surrendered the Truth in its power to a tyrannical democracy of mouth-breathers.  And with the suppression of Truth comes the death of Love.


Don’t get me wrong, some things are “flat out wrong” offensive . Like wearing a Hitler Youth shirt to the Holocaust Memorial. Or any of those “People of Wal-mart” emails where a burley bearded man is wearing a tutu. Fair enough.

What I mean here is saying or doing something that is true and necessary, but is offensive to others because they don’t want to hear it. It hurts feelings--but nothing more. Not morals, not faith, not even sensibilities.

Of course Truth hurts, but it hurts only when we aren’t conformed to it. If we are conformed to it, it doesn’t hurt any more than playing with a puppy.

When Christ our God says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” it’s more than some high-mindedness or abstraction. The truth in our intellects is the measure of how we conform our intellects to reality. In other words, Truth is never relative. Ever. It’s the standard by which all other things make any sense. It’s how things actually ARE.

That, for the record, is one of the biggest reasons that willful ignorance in matters of faith and morals is inherently sinful. To willfully refuse to be conformed to the Truth by obstinacy (in other words,  heresy) or by laziness (willfull ignorance), you’ve swerved into sin, plain and simple. You have moved deliberately into a condition of separation from Christ just by refusing the Truth as it is. And that, my friends, is what’s really at stake, long term, with the NCW and its hatred of Christian freedom. More on that later. 

[NOTE: The issue here is speaking in the service of Truth, not speaking true statements in service of ourselves. Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ (in all its truth) is not the same as being truthful when a person is body shamed.  Clearly, there’s a big difference]

Anyway, speaking the truth in the service of Truth is always a good—always. It reflects the goodness of God, and it serves the Common Good. Always. 

So now, as we move forward in our defense of the Faith, it’s absolutely crucial that each of us on Junglewatch—in our villages, parishes, schools, jobs, or whatever—remember that 1) we are in the right, 2) we have a responsibility to Christ and His Church by virtue of Confirmation (if nothing else) to defend the Truth, and best of all, 3) we are armed with the Faith, and our greatest weapon, our only weapon, is Love. 

Our motives then must be pure. We must be acting from service to the Truth, which is Christ our God Himself. If any or each of us knows this in his heart, then how can we go wrong when we have the Eucharist, the daily Rosary, the sacramentals, and the Tradition as our source, our hope, and his goal. But if our personal motives are shaky, then beware: re-evaluate why you do this, lest a far worse menace come later that defeats us because of our moral sloppiness.

In fact, with all this in mind, faithfulness to Christ and His Church absolutely REQUIRES us to be bold in our proclaiming not just in the Truth and for the Truth, but against heretics who deny the Truth and the hypocrites who care not for the Truth, but only about what profit or power it may bring them. 

All of these by definition MUST become offended. There is no other way. In fact, that’s how we know we have proclaimed the Truth: either the wayward come back to us, or they are offended. Those are the only two options possible.

St John Paul II was adamant about this, and he was constantly called offensive by Communist authorities, the gay community, nuns wanting to be priests, and just about everyone else. And in the end, his constancy proved out. And that is the working of the Holy Spirit. 

So despite all these attacks against the Junglewatch Nation (be we in Guam, or the US, or Spain, or in the halls of the Vatican so badly in need of cleansing, or anywhere else), we aren’t offensive at all. In the words of a rhetorician I heard decades ago, ours isn’t hate speech. This is LOVE speech. We wouldn’t speak the Truth to our sisters and brothers if we didn’t love them.  We wouldn’t call out the Archbishop if we didn’t love him and what he represents (and it now must be a tough, even harsh, love). If we didn’t love them—all of them—we’d let them persist in their heresy and de facto abandonment of the vocation of Love. And how many souls would be lost then? Might not our own souls be at risk as well because our love had grown cold?

And there it is:  it’s our duty as faithful Catholics who love the Archbishop (the office as our pastor and descendent of the Apostles, not necessarily the man himself) to hold him accountable. How is that possibly uncharitable? How is that possibly unjust? 

Hear the lesson from the Gospel: just after the Lord Jesus tells His disciples about the End Times, he tells them about none other than bishops and those in authority (Matt 24:45-51). If when the Lord returns and He finds his steward “beating his fellow servants” and indulging in his lusts for pleasure or power or wealth, then the Lord will “cut him to pieces and assign him to a place with the hypocrites.”

Woah. That does not bode well for the clergy who love power.  If I love my neighbor, I don’t want that. And I certainly don’t want that for the clergy on Guam, no matter how unformed they are (through no fault of their own) or how arrogant they are (I won’t even go there for now) or how non-confrontational they may have been (broken spirits will do that). God wills all men be saved; Providence arranges for this opportunity for each of us. And we--yes, we laypeople who go about the business of living as practicing, practical Catholics--must accept that quite often we are part of the opportunity for the salvation of others. 

When the damned are lost to Hell (say many many saints), then these poor souls know that their punishment is just. But they hate even more those who helped them get to Hell, living or dead. If my neighbor, if my priest, if my bishop were to be lost to the flames tomorrow (God help us all!), and I did nothing to try to bring him to the Truth of the Faith, then even though he is squarely to blame for his own fate, I contributed to his eternal suffering. 

Knowing all this is the burden of being a faithful Catholic. So let us all gird our loins, as they say, and get back to work—without doubts, without second-guessing, and without the corruption of falling in the trap of trying to meet the expectations of those who demand we not be “offensive.” 

I’ll say it one more time : if we serve the Truth, the only responses possible are acceptance of the Truth, or offense. That should embolden us, not intimidate us.

Love compels us. Now is the time, my sisters and brothers. This is way beyond an issue of governance. Everything now boils down to saving souls.

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Addendum: someone is bound to read this and exclaim, "What an ass! This guy says be mean and be judgey and cruel." My only poor exasperated response is this: I said the opposite, but since you had difficulty with adult reading, perhaps a shift to less challenging work is in order. Try "Cat in the Hat" or "Clifford the Big Red Dog." Then after your nap, you can go play at recess.

And I say THAT in all charity. 1 Corinthians 13:11




15 comments:

  1. Proud to be a citizen of Junglewatch Nation where avoiding offense can itself be offensive.

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    1. Defending the Truth requires conviction, sacrifice and thick skin! Lukewarm is offensive!
      “Too many people get credit for being good, when they are only being passive. They are too often praised for being broadminded when they are so broadminded they can never make up their minds about anything.”
      ― Fulton J. Sheen

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    2. I absolutely LOVE it when I'm outshined by Bishop Sheen. Which is pretty much every day. Great quote I'd forgotten about. Thanks, Bruce.

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  2. Glaucon, once again, a stunningly good exposition of the subject. So glad that you have accepted the baton. I am not from Guam but Junglewatch has become very important in our own fight for truth and against the distortions of the NCW. Deus Protector Noster.

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    1. May St. Joan of Arc pray for you! St. Michael the Archangel defend them in battle! You are in our prayers! Keep the Faith!

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    2. The KAKA filled Dingbat created an interesting discussion posing why the Deacons cannot get over an incident that happened 13 years ago where they were forced to join the way. I was anon @11:08am that responded to her blog. What really bothers me is that there are many candidates that finished the course but have not been selected for ordination. And she has the audacity to state that joining the way is optional...

      CERTAIN DEACONS’ MISCONCEPTION

      Ten year ago, Archbishop suggested/mandated/recommended (it depends to which person you speak) the deacon class of 2003 to go and listen to the catechesis of the Neocatechumenal way. Some deacons claim that Father Adrian ‘threatened’ them that Archbishop will not ordain them deacons if they do not follow this directive.

      What I fail to understand is why some deacons are still harping on this after ten long years. Can’t they forget and let go? Let us say, for the sake of the argument, he made a mistake, can’t they excuse him? Do the Gospel values like forgiveness and lenience have any worth today?

      Let us be grateful that we have an Archbishop who cares for souls and is trying to do something...
      Diana at 10:49 AM
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      2 comments:

      AnonymousJuly 15, 2016 at 11:08 AM
      Diana, what about the numerous Filipino priests that were sent back to the Philippines because they refused to serve the in the way? There are copies of letters from AAA informing them that failure to serve in the way will result in thier termination of thier service here.

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      DianaJuly 15, 2016 at 11:20 AM
      Dear Anonymous at 11:08 am,

      They were not forced to join the Way. They were given a choice. They can join the Way or they have one year in the Archdiocese of Agana and can return to their home country.

      These catechesis are a fifteen talks-and-celebrations package, that may give way to the birth of a small Neocatechumenal community in a parish. At the end everyone is asked whether he wants to continue or not.

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    3. If they join the Way and they get to stay if not the they have one year in the Archdiocese of Agana !!!!?????
      What a good example of the fruits of the NCW, for everyone to see ......

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    4. One year for one priest; immediate expulsion for the other two:

      In his letter to one priest, Archbishop Apuron wrote

      I am now asking you…as Archbishop of Agana to accompany this...Community as their presbyter for their Celebration of the Eucharist every Saturday evening at 7:30pm. If you decide you will not serve, I will have to let you know now, that your time in this Archdiocese will be for only one year from the above date.

      To the other two priests, he wrote:

      I would like you (name of priest) to seriously consider following the next series of catechesis which will take place in (the priest's parish) and committing yourself to the community that will later be formed as its presbyter as well as other communities born from hereon in the parish. Unless I see this desire manifest in you within the coming years, I may ask that you go elsewhere….If you do not agree to the above, then you are free to begin to look around for a benevolent bishop to accept you into his arch/diocese.

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    5. The signed letters to these priests can be found here.

      https://www.scribd.com/document/234271730/Apuron-2008-Letters-to-the-3-Filipino-Priests-edited

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  3. Oh I remember that a long long time ago ... there were only 2 deacons that continued with the Neocatechumenal. I also remember the Archbishop telling his community (I was a guest that night at their Mass) that he, Apuron, was very sorry he told the Deacons that they should join the Way. He looked really sincere, said he caused a husband (deacon) and his wife to argue about being in the Way.

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    1. If he was truly sincere, why didn't he make a public apology to the deacons themselves?

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  4. Wormwood: Oh Uncle you would happy to know I’ve finally tired down that troublesome militant in ‘The Jungle’ who’s been exposing much of our father’s plan to destroy our Enemy’s Church and those awful faithful children of The Lady.

    Screwtape: Yes I see, but celebrate not just yet Wormwood for another troublemaker is in his stead and just as irritating has answered his calling and so far proving to know our history. And may I remind you, NEVER NEVER impute a word of insolence to His Mother, that Woman of Genesis, for even all the powers of HELL has no power over her and WE the devils are compelled to bows at her feet, DO YOU UNDERSTAND WORMWOOD!

    Wormwood: (GUUULP)…yes Uncle, but not to worry, our Adherents in the collars, the epicene and enervated ordained ones who are doing our deeds are awaiting edict from the one with the pious name and the esteemed Proxy has issued petitions for unity, forgiveness and forgetness, hehehehe, my little ruse Is working!

    Screwtape: Wormwood, quickly conceal the words of the man of Peter so the faithful are not enlighten of Rome’s recent decree.

    Wormwood: My brothers Dementorisbus and Chaostus are already at work. The island of San Vitores, once Ladrones will revert. We continue to make stride in these churches who no longer believe in the miracle of the Eucharist and have no regards to any of their Sacraments, hahahaha. If only they knew our foreign theology is forming their minds into little sprites. That new theology of that man of art, no longer the Fisher man, but the man who paints his image over the Anointed One.

    Screwtape: HELL awaits them my dear nephew Wormwood, our father below Is most grateful of your labor, the greater the heresy the more they will believe!

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  5. Were any parishioners of those parishes who currently have NCW Prebysters polled whether they wanted to join the NCW or not? How can DIngbat or anyone at the chancery ever say that joining the NCW is optional? What doctrines do we expect an NCW prebyster will be teaching the parishes that he is pastoring? except that which he was trained in at the RMS seminary? He can only give what he has, or has been trained in. What he believes about any of the sacraments will be what he will be teaching. If his formation is heretical doctrine, his teaching cannot be orthodox Catholic Teaching. One cannot get figs from a thornbush.

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    1. This is why NEO Cult Presbyter Edi (OJ) always makes a funny remark every time he stumbles or misses his mark when celebrating the regular mass. They are more accustomed to small group settings then being pastoral to the large mass of parishioners.

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